UK judge labels contactless payments 'quite ludicrous'

Judge David Bartlett has declared the use of contactless technology ‘quite ludicrous’, upon hearing how a card was used in a shop after it was stolen.

According to the UK prosecution, NatWest and Tesco cards were swiped from the owner’s bedside table as he slept in his house. Robert Vipond made use of them soon after, but was allegedly given these cards by another person. The owner reported the theft as soon as he woke up.

Vipong made purchases and withdrew cash from ATM machines using a PIN number which had been left on a notebook on the same bedside table as the wallet. He also used another card, withdrawing a total of £250 cash and buying a £1,500 watch and £279.45 worth of clothes. He was jailed for 18 months at Exeter Crown Court after admitting fraud and theft offences.

The judge said: “You can make these contactless payments now. It seems quite ludicrous that banks allow this to happen. It seems anyone who steals a card can wave it around until it is reported as stolen.”